


Accelerating on Bonds of Light

by predilection



Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Kamen Rider Zi-O
Genre: M/M, Sex Pollen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 03:29:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17317229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/predilection/pseuds/predilection
Summary: "Oma Zi-O craved power more than anything, but now he'll be forced to crave something else. Something that won't be easy to satisfy."





	Accelerating on Bonds of Light

**Author's Note:**

> In which Sougo gets hit with the energy attack equivalent of sex pollen.
> 
> This was written right after episode 14 aired, so it likely won't be consistent with what happens later in the series. Also, despite the plot device used, this contains a lot of talking and not a lot of sex.
> 
> Title from the Zi-O opening "Over 'Quartzer'".

Tsukuyomi isn't sure what they've done recently to anger the Time Jackers besides existing, but she supposes that it doesn't matter. Not in the grand scheme of things. Not when Sougo has already been hit by an energy blast and is lying on his back on the grass, his transformation undone, holding his chest like it's difficult for him to breathe.

"What did you do to him?" she asks as she runs to Sougo's side. He's thankfully breathing easier by the time she reaches him, but it's coming out too fast and his hands are visibly shaking.

Schwartz smiles, and it's anything but kind. "Oma Zi-O craved power more than anything, but now he'll be forced to crave something else. Something that won't be easy to satisfy."

"What?"

"I can think of no more fitting an end for the old king." Schwartz laughs, and with a sweep of his arm, he disappears, leaving her alone with Sougo.

She brushes her hand against his forehead to check his temperature and he jerks away from her touch. He's warm and she guesses he has a fever.

"It hurts," he says, his eyes shut tightly.

"Sougo?" She wants to take him by the shoulders and shake him, but that might do more harm than good at this point. "Talk to me. What hurts?"

"His whole body, I imagine." Tsukuyomi turns at the sound of this new voice. Woz is standing behind them, book open in one hand and wearing a frown on his face. 

"What did Schwartz do to him?" Tsukuyomi asks.

Woz steps closer and closer, and then he surprises her by crouching down at her side and regarding the state Sougo is in. "This attack will make him crave carnal desire," Woz tells her.

As it hits her what Woz just said, she feels a looming kind of horror sweep over her. She's not alone either. Sougo's eyes go wide and his jaw clenches. 

Woz only has eyes for Sougo when he continues. "My demon king, you'll be increasingly desperate for touch, but only from one you truly desire. It's a curse, and it'll kill you if it isn't dealt with quickly." Woz scowls and snaps his book closed. It takes her a moment to realize that he's angry. She's never seen him angry before, not like this. "This isn't in the records."

Sougo lays his head back in the grass and his whole body is shaking now. The tremors are small, but there, a sign the curse has already started to take hold. "Touch I truly desire?" he asks.

"Yes. Is there..." Woz's mouth presses into a flat line. "...is there anyone you wish to lie with?"

Tsukuyomi sucks in a deep breath. She understands now why Schwartz chose this particular curse. Sougo doesn't have any friends, let alone any romantic interests that she knows of. The closest thing he has is herself and Geiz, and she doesn't have any interest in Sougo like that. As for Geiz... the suggestion itself is laughable even if Geiz wasn't in the past researching Another Rider right now. 

"Take me home," Sougo says in lieu of an answer, and Woz bows his head.

"As you wish, my demon king."

The next thing she knows, she's in Sougo's room watching as Woz lifts Sougo from the hardwood floors and carefully sets him down on his bed.

Sougo immediately grabs fistfuls of his sheets and rolls his head back, his discomfort obvious. Tsukuyomi dares herself to look down his body, and his need is visible even through his pants and the oversized shirt that hangs down over top of them. 

"Is there anything we can do?" she finds herself asking, coming to stand next to Woz by his bedside.

Woz turns his head towards her and he's still scowling. "Unless he longs for you, there isn't."

"Sougo?" she asks, despite herself, not wanting the answer to be an affirmative, but finding that she needs to ask regardless.

He shakes his head. "No, no, it's not--" His voice cuts off on a small sound of pain.

His answer doesn't calm her. It only makes her heart beat faster. There's only one other option, but Woz asks about it first.

"If it's Myoukouin Geiz, I will... fetch him for you." Woz says the words like they pain him, but Sougo shakes his head again.

"It's not Geiz..." he says quietly.

That, too, is a relief and not a relief at the same time, but there's something about Sougo's answer that makes her wonder if there's another candidate out there they just aren't aware of. It makes her ask, "Is there someone else?"

Sougo nods and his eyes are half-lidded when he turns his head to look up at Woz. Even then, it doesn't completely register what he's implying until he lifts a shaky hand from the bedspread and grabs hold of Woz's tunic.

"Woz," he says simply, longing plain on his face, and Tsukuyomi gasps. She has to she take a step back because Woz isn't a friend of Sougo's, not by her definition. He's worked against them more than once in order to keep his version of the timeline intact. He's manipulative, and while he seems to be indifferent towards her, he's made it clear that he dislikes Geiz a great deal. He's not someone Sougo should want.

Yet Sougo meets Woz's eyes and says, his voice breaking, "Please..."

"My demon king?" Woz asks, clearly just as taken aback as she is. 

Sougo looks away, even though his grip on Woz's shirt tightens. "But only if you want to. Not because I'm your king," he struggles to say, his shaking increasingly violent as time passes. "Not because you have to."

Woz opens his mouth, closes it, and opens it again. When he finally speaks, he says, "This definitely wasn't in the records."

Sougo manages to laugh then, and his expression is earnest and maybe a little delirious when he says, "I want to be a good king, not the evil king from your book. And I want you to help me, Woz. I want you..." he trails off, his eyes closing.

"Why?" Woz asks, and Tsukuyomi takes a good look at him. He's still tense, but the anger isn't as prominent anymore. Instead, his brows are furrowed in confusion. 

"Since I was a kid, I've known I'll be king," Sougo tells him. "I've told countless people my dream but you... you're the first person who believed in me. You didn't laugh or tell me that I should pursue another goal. Instead, you had faith in me."

"You're my king," Woz says, his bewilderment even more noticeable now, like the thought of questioning Sougo's dream was unthinkable.

"See?" Sougo smiles, his eyes opening to stare up at Woz again. "That's why it's you."

"I'm your retainer," Woz points out.

"You're my friend," Sougo insists. "And that's why... why you can't help me if you do it because you serve me."

For a long time, Woz doesn't reply. She doesn't miss how the knuckles of the hand he's using to hold is book are white, or the way he bites his bottom lip. Sougo's harsh and too-quick breathing are the only sound in the room and they mark the seconds that pass until Woz uses his free hand to pull his tunic out of Sougo's hold and take a step away from the bed.

He bows then, an arm held against his chest in formality. "Let me consider your request," he says, and without waiting for a reply, he straightens, turns on his heel, and vanishes into thin air.

Tsukuyomi wants to yell -- to scream -- to find out where Woz went and drag him back. She hates this whole situation. She hates how Sougo's life depends on the decision of someone she can't trust and she hates how Sougo is making these tiny little sounds of agony with every breath as his condition gets worse.

She leaves him briefly to get a washcloth and soak it in cold water, and when she returns, she drapes it over Sougo's forehead. He sighs in relief when it touches his skin, and she finds herself asking him, "Woz? Really?"

He finds the energy to smile up at her. "I like him," he admits. "I've liked him for a long time."

"And if he doesn't like you back?" 

Sougo huffs out a laugh but his expression shifts into something more serious. "The night Geiz left, I summoned him," he tells her instead of answering her question.

Tsukuyomi remembers that night. It was after a particularly bad fight between Sougo and Geiz. Before Geiz stormed out, he told Sougo that they weren't friends and never would be. He added that he believed that Sougo would become a murderer no matter the changes to the timeline. They had fought like this before, but there was an edge to Geiz's words that cut deep. It was the first time she saw Sougo cry.

"You summoned Woz?"

Sougo nods. "He asked me why I was crying over Geiz when Geiz was getting in the way of me becoming king, but he stayed with me that night."

Tsukuyomi hadn't known that, and if Sougo had told her an hour ago, she's not sure how she would've reacted if he had.

"And he saved me from Wool that one time," Sougo continues. "He got between me and his attack."

Tsukuyomi can see where he's going with this but she can also see the flaw in his logic. "That doesn't mean he feels the same way for you, Sougo. He could be doing all of this for other reasons. He wants to you become Oma Zi-O." 

"He can want me and want me to be king," Sougo points out, confident despite the increasing unsteadiness of his voice. "We'll see anyway. You heard what he said. This attack can only be broken by someone I desire, and I don't desire a retainer."

It takes her a second to figure out what Sougo's saying. "You turned this into a test?"

"Not intentionally... but if he comes back and he decides to help me, then he's who I know him to be."

She shakes her head, rattled in a way she couldn't have expected. Deep down, she's been worried of Sougo being taken advantage of, but he's come up with a way to sidestep that danger. All it's costing him is a gamble with his life.

She doesn't see what Sougo sees in Woz and she's not convinced he will even return. But she thinks of how gutted and thrown Woz looked when Sougo confessed to him, and she's not entirely sure what to think anymore.

Her thoughts are interrupted when Sougo opens his mouth on a silent scream, his fingers digging into the bedding again. When his back curls up off the mattress, her panic becomes a palpable thing. "Sougo? Sougo!" She plants her hands on his shoulders and begins to wrestle him back down even as he squirms in her hold. 

Desperately, she wonders if she can summon Woz and it's as she's opening her mouth to call for him that she hears him say, "That's enough, Tsukuyomi. I'll take it from here."

Sougo calms at the sound of his voice, the spasms ceasing even as the shaking remains. He falls back onto the bed, and then he rolls his head to the side, his gaze caught behind her. She turns.

Woz is standing by the door, and the first thing she notices is that he's not carrying his ever-present book. Then she sees the resolve in his eyes and swallows. He's made a decision. 

Tsukuyomi steps aside as he comes to stand over Sougo. "My demon king," he says.

Sougo grins up at him. "Woz, you came back." He reaches a trembling hand out towards Woz again, but this time Woz catches it and holds it still before Sougo can make contact with him. Tsukuyomi wonders if this is it -- if this will be the moment Sougo is rejected -- if this is the moment they learn Sougo will die -- but instead Woz kneels and brushes his lips against the back of Sougo's hand.

"You're my king," Woz says, lingering there, his mouth just above Sougo's skin, and then he adds, in a voice barely more than a whisper, "But you're also... more than my king."

Sougo leans over so he can run the fingers of his free hand over the side of Woz's face, his whole body quaking with the effort. "Woz, please," he says, vulnerable and desperate.

Woz's expression softens, and it's the most defenseless Tsukuyomi's ever seen him. It's plain as day that he wants Sougo as much as Sougo wants him.

Her shoulders sag as the relief hits her. She can't say she likes this resolution or that it sits well with her, but it's not as horrible as it could be. No one is going to be doing anything they don't want to. On the contrary, it appears that both Sougo and Woz are getting exactly what they want.

As Sougo pulls Woz closer, she turns her back to them and makes for the door as quickly and quietly as she can. After it closes behind her with a click, she leans back against it. Her heart is still beating loudly from her fear for Sougo and from something else entirely.

She goes downstairs and determinedly does not think about what is going on inside Sougo's bedroom. She makes herself tea, hyper-focusing on each step of the process like it's a mediation. Boil the water. Measure out the proper amount of tea leaves. Put the leaves in the strainer. Add the water. Let it steep.

Once the tea is ready, she holds her cup in her hands and concentrates on the warmth of it. She listens to the ticking of the thankfully empty shop, and finally, she lets herself think about what this changes.

Oma Zi-O never had a lover that she knew of, but the Oma Zi-O she knew was also not a young man with a bright smile and a firm belief that things will be alright.

What she does know is that Sougo believes in her and Geiz. It's a small difference, perhaps, but a major one. He trusts them with his watches and with his life. He's more of a friend than a monster, and it's completely altered the way she thinks about the future. She can't see how the Sougo she knows could ever become the Oma Zi-O who slaughtered so many.

She also knows that Sougo has changed Geiz's outlook with his faith too, even if Geiz won't admit it yet. Thus, she finds herself wondering if Woz is the same. If this man who travelled through time to ensure his king comes to power has also realized this simple truth: that who Sougo is now is a better man than the villain that haunts their futures.

She doesn't remember much about Woz from their time, but she knows that Oma Zi-O hadn't cared much for him, despite his unwavering loyalty. He'd been a prophet but also a soldier and cannon fodder. Sougo, on the other hand, cares for Woz a great deal -- in some ways, more than he cares about anyone else.

It shakes her to her core that it's Sougo's love for Woz, of all things, that's finally letting her come to terms with the reality that lies before her. She and Geiz are not here to observe or stop Sougo, and neither is Woz here to mould him into a dictator. They're all here to help him become the king he wants to be -- the king they all need him to be.

She finishes her tea and pours herself a second cup. It's only when it's finished and the pot is long cooled that she ventures back up the stairs to check on Sougo. She doesn't hear anything through the door, but she knocks softly just to be sure she's not interrupting anything. 

It's Woz's voice that answers. "Come in, Tsukuyomi."

Slowly, she opens the door, unsure and wary of what she might to find, but there is nothing lewd about the sight in front of her. Instead, it makes her cheeks heat in another way entirely. Woz is shirtless, sitting up with his back to the headboard. Sougo is asleep with his head in Woz's lap and Woz is running one of his hands through Sougo's hair. The covers have been pulled up to Sougo's waist, and he isn't wearing any visible clothing. 

She notes that Sougo's tremors are gone along with his pained expression. Instead, he looks peaceful in his sleep. She also notices that Woz's gaze is focused on him with obvious affection and more than a little awe. It's a picture she never could have imagined on her own, but one that doesn't feel out of place. Not anymore, at least.

"Is he alright?" she asks though she already knows the answer.

"My demon king will recover completely," Woz tells her, his hand still gently carding through Sougo's hair.

She nods and leaves then, not wanting to disturb them a moment longer. Besides, she has other things to worry about now. Geiz will return soon, and she's going to have to find a way to explain all of this to him. 

He's not going to believe her or like any of it, but that's okay. Neither did she before she figured it all out, and she knows that Geiz will come to the same conclusions in time.


End file.
